The present finger splinter guard is adapted for use by carpenters when power sawing or measuring a board workpiece. The guard protects the index finger against splinters encountered during movement in either a strip cut or crosscut sawing. It is moreover very useful in measuring and pencil marking a board. The carpenter thus retains the rule by thumb and index finger, holding rule and marker in another, both hands and the rule being moved slideably along the board. The guard provides a skid against the board edge in strip measuring. In crosscut measuring a similar movement is necessary to protect the finger in marking.
Although made of a resilient armor-like substance, the guard is fully impermeable to splinters, its external and internal configurations relating closely to the external configuration of the carpenter's index finger. Due to an elongated, axially aligned slot in this tubular splinter guard, opening at the proximal end and terminating short of the distal end, the guard gap will expand or contract, depending upon the size of the index finger of the carpenter. This forced entry ensures its uniform fit to anyone's finger, regardless of its size.
As indicated, the utility of the finger guard extends not only to protection of the index finger from wood splinters along the side of a board during measuring and marking, but also during circular saw cutting of boards. In the latter instance, the circular saw rig is moved by one hand and operated by another hand. The function of the guard is to protect the finger from splinters of wood from edges of the board. Its utility in sawing extends to its usefulness when cutting with a circular saw which does or does not have its own board guide.
The best known prior art is represented by the following United States Letters Patent.
______________________________________ INVENTOR DATE PAT. NO. DESCRIPTION ______________________________________ Morris 1915 1,160,522 Finger Shield Gross 1948 2,434,317 Finger Cot Smith 1966 3,293,958 Finger-Mounted Tweezers Brophy 1967 Des. 208,047 Thimble Greneker 1979 4,177,698 Finger Fit Implement ______________________________________
In none of the prior art does one find an armored carpenter's finger guard which, due to its unique interior configuration, and elongated gap, fits in mating relationship with the index finger. The combination of guard elements ensures a friction fit to the user. Both exterior and interior profiles of the guard define three dimensional human characteristics of the finger.